Wausau child cares funded to remove lead pipes

A USA TODAY motion graphic showing how lead can get into your drinking water.
Ramon Padilla, Karl Gelles and Shannon Green, USA TODAY

An 80-year-old lead water pipe that was removed and replaced by the Green Bay Water Utility in March on Ethel Street in Green Bay. Homes from before 1945 may have lead pipes.(Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-W)

WAUSAU - A slew of Wausau child care centers could get their lead pipes replaced for free thanks to federal funds and the efforts of some city officials.

Wausau secured $300,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this year and will likely get $300,000 next year to help private property owners replace old pipes made of lead, said Public Works and Utilities Director Eric Lindman.

It costs about $3,000 to replace those pipes on an average house, he said. Replacing all of Wausau's lead service lines would cost $30 million, he said.

The city has decided to direct the grant dollars to child care centers first and then make them available to residents living along street reconstruction projects, Lindman said. The Wausau Water Works Commission and City Council members helped set those priorities.

"Drinking water in homes and in day cares needs to be safe," said City Council President Lisa Rasmussen. "If the utility can help homeowners to get their lead pipes replaced, it does mitigate a public health hazard."

Children under six and pregnant women are most vulnerable to lead poisoning. Exposure to lead can slow growth and development and damage hearing and speech, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lead pipes become a problem as they age and corrode, leaching lead into the water supply. Homes built before 1986 may have lead pipes. That's the year the Safe Drinking Water Act prohibited adding lead pipes to drinking water systems. Lead and other contaminants in the water in Flint, Michigan, caused a public health crisis and national outcry starting in 2014.

Phil Mohs' home was one of the regular testing sites in Wausau. He's also the owner of Little Scholars Preschool and Kindergarten at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, which isn't on the city's list of child care centers with lead service lines.

Even before Mohs knew the status of the day care's pipes, he wasn't particularly worried about lead.

"We're not in a crisis situation in Wausau like they are in Flint (Michigan)," he said during a February phone interview. "(But) a non-lead pipe is better than a lead pipe, even if the city is already treating the water."

There's a sodium silicate in the water here that coats the pipes and Wausau water has an increased pH to reduce corrosion in the pipes, Lindman said.

Larger child care centers in the city such as Wausau Child Care do not have any lead pipes so they won't dip into the grant dollars.

There are nine day care centers eligible for the funding. None of them serves more than eight kids. They don't have to take the funds, but the city will qualify the day cares and a list of plumbers and encourage them to connect and replace lead piping.

As the city reconstructs streets it replaces pipes on the public side and encourages homeowners to replace the pipes on their property. When the city replaces the public side of the pipes, it can shake up the lead on the homeowner's side and put the residents at a higher risk of lead exposure.

"We haven't had a lot of participation from homeowners in the past," Lindman said.

Wausau residents can get interest-free loans from the water utility to replace their pipes. And now they have access to money through the Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The day care replacements will be fully funded and other homeowners can get up to $1,500.

There are a number of street projects planned this year, and neighboring residents have a shot at the federal funds.

Street reconstruction is planned for parts of Washington Street, Second Street, Thomas Street and Plaza Drive.